Memory, Foundry, and LED Markets Drive Fab Spending in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE — April 10, 2013 — Increased
spending in NAND and flash by Micron, LEDs by Philips and Osram, and continued
investments by GLOBALFOUNDRIES will create new opportunities for equipment and
materials suppliers in Southeast Asia. These trends will be explored at the
upcoming SEMICON
Singapore 2013 which will take place May 7-9 at the
Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center. With a focus on new technologies
and products for advanced IC packaging, test, and fab efficiency, as well as in
new application areas including LEDs and MEMS, the event capitalizes on Southeast
Asia’s strong contribution to the global
semiconductor market.

For the Southeast Asia region,
capital equipment investment will see some pickup in the second half of 2013 followed
by a strong recovery in 2014. Overall front-end fab equipment spending is
expected to double next year from $810 million in 2013 to $1.62 billion in
2014. Foundry and Memory are the two major sectors that invest most in the
region. The GLOBALFOUNDRIES expansion plan at Fab 7 will be completed by mid-2014
while UMC continues to upgrade their Fab 12i capacity to 40nm process.

The Southeast Asia region’s capacity
growth for front-end fabs shows two percent increase this year and an expectation
of higher growth, eight percent, in
2014, exceeding overall global capacity growth of five percent according to the
SEMI World Fab Forecast. The growth will
mainly be driven by memory sector, specifically from NAND flash capacity as
Micron gears up for further expansion at its Singapore NAND flash facility next
year plus ongoing capacity conversion from DRAM to NAND flash at Fab 7 (Tech).
Singapore is emerging to become the third largest NAND flash manufacturing
country in the world by the end of 2014. The conversion and the expansion projects will
drive related semiconductor investment in the region in 2013 and 2014.

For the assembly and test sector,
Southeast Asia has long been the focal point of the industry with a large
installed capacity from both IDMs and OSATs. This position contributes to the region being
the largest packaging materials consumption market in the world, representing a
market size of $6.6 billion in 2013 and $6.8 billion in 2014. The region’s
back-end equipment investment remain significant with over $1 billion spending
each year throughout 2012 to 2014, accounting for about 17% of worldwide share
according to SEMI’s WWSEMS.

Aside from manufacturing capacity,
Southeast Asia region is now extending its value proposition to IC design and
R&D areas with more joint development projects between multi-national
corporations (MNC) and local institutes. SEMI expects to see a more robust
semiconductor ecosystem arise from the region as a result of these endeavors
and as companies seek ready access to customers throughout Asia-Pacific and
South Asia.

Currently, Singapore has 14 wafer fabrication plants, including
the world’s top three wafer foundries. Singapore also has 20
semiconductor assembly and test operations, including three of the world’s top
six outsourced assembly and test companies. There are about 40 IC design centers,
which comprise nine of the world’s “top 10” fabless IC design companies.

SEMICON
Singapore, in its 20th year, will
feature over 40 programs and forums to highlight the industry’s major
technology trends, and investment and expansion opportunities in manufacturing.
Forum themes include: Market Trends Briefing, Lithography Technology, Assembly
Packaging Technology, 2.5D/3D-IC, LED Manufacturing Technology, Product Test,
and MEMS. Attendees can save up to 30
percent on programs by registering before April 15.

Other
special programs include a job fair, a SEMICON University Program, and both an
OEM Sourcing Program ad a Suppliers Search Program. These programs demonstrate
SEMI Singapore’s commitment to connecting the global semiconductor
manufacturers to Singapore-based resources and professions.

SEMICON
Singapore connects businesses to customers in Southeast Asia by demonstrating
their innovation and technology leadership, building customer relationships,
and helping companies gain competitive advantage and reinforce market
positioning. SEMICON Singapore is where companies can reinforce market position
and leadership within the region.

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and
microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. Our 1,900 member companies are
the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products
that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members
grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges.
SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble,
Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington,
D.C. For more information, visit www.semi.org.